GUNNISON, Colo --- It's a battle of undefeated RMAC teams in Golden set for Saturday as the Western Colorado football team heads north to take on No. 5 Colorado School of Mines at Marvin Kay Stadium.

The Mountaineers will be going for their first 5-0 start to the season since 1979 whne the team started 7-0 on its way to an RMAC championship.

THE MOUNTAINEERS HEADING INTO THE WEEK | 2021 SEASON STATS
Western Colorado used a suffocating defensive effort to move to 4-0 on the season after blanking Fort Lewis 42-0 in Gunnison last week. The Mountaineers allowed just 59 yards of offense - the fifth-lowest total in school history. Offensively, Braedan Hogan scored three touchdowns while adding 73 yards rushing, Josh Cummings had the other two touchdowns while rushing for a team-high 78 yards and Tyus Cornia added 65 yards on the ground as Western Colorado rushed for 222 yards while throwing for 154 yards and two scores (Hogan had a touchdown reception as did Malik White).

On the season defensively, the Mountaineers are allowing just 8.5 points per game - tops in the RMAC (just ahead of Colorado School of Mines) and sixth in the nation. They are also 14th in the nation and second in the RMAC in total defense - allowing 257 yards per game. Individually, Robert Garlock leads the team with 25 tackles to go along with an interception and blocked kick. Lane Farris is just behind him with 24 tackles, including a team and RMAC-best 8.5 tackles for a loss (with two sacks thrown in there to go along with a ofrced fumble and a fumble recovery). A third linebacker, Wyatt Buhr, is third on the team in tackles with 23.

Offensively, Cummbins leads the team in rushing with 396 yards - third in the RMAC - and is tied for the RMAC lead with six rushing touchdowns, tied for eighth in the nation. Hogan has rushed for 133 yards and two scores as well for the Mountaineers.

Connor Desch has completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 766 yards, nine touchdowns and five interception. Cole Riters leads the team with 13 catches for 217 yards while Damian Macias has 11 receptions for 87 yards.

COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES HEADING INTO THIS WEEK | 2021 STATISTICS
The Orediggers are coming off of a 21-13 road win at West Texas A&M on Saturday, a game they trailed 13-0 at the half before three second-half touchdowns gave them the victory. Michael Zeman rushed for 121 yards on 29 carries while quarterback John Matocha went 15-for-22 for 128 yards, a touchdown and an interception to go along with 70 yards rushing and another score. Defensively, Gabriel Kortz and Nolan Reeve each had a team-high eight tackles while Kobe Brewster had four tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and a recovered fumble.

Mines' other wins came at home against Western Oregon (42-3) and New Mexico Highlands (31-21) and a victory at Fort Lewis (76-0).

On the season, the Orediggers rank first in third-down defense, second in rushing defense, fifth in total defense and seventh in scoring defense in the NCAA. Kortz leas the team with 25 tackles while Nolan Reeve has 24 tackles and a team-high 3.5 sacks.

Offensively, Matocha is completing 66 percent of his passes for 705 yads, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions while also rushing for 186 yards and another score. His top receivers have been Josh Johnston (18 rec., 165 yards, 5 TDs), Tristan Smith (18 rec., 215 yards, 2 TDs) and Joe Golter (13 rec., 182 yards, 2 TDs). On the ground, Zeman leads the team and is second in the RMAC with 423 yards and six touchdowns (4.6 yards per carry).
  SERIES HISTORY VS. COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
The Mountaineers and Orediggers had the longest continuous rivalry in Colorado college football history until that streak was snapped last season due to the pandemic - having played each year from 1925-2019.

Overall, Western Colorado holds a 53-40-2 advantage on Mines - though have lost the previous three meetings. The last Mountaineer win came at home 45-31 on Sept. 24, 2016. The last win in Golden came in 2015, a 45-42 victory.

RED ZONE WARRIORS
It's no secret that the Western Colorado defense has been stellar to start the season, and a big part is they aren't breaking when teams reach the red zone (inside Western's 20-yard line). The Mountaineers have allowed teams to get to the red zone seven times, allowing just one field goal and no touchdowns. Last week against Fort Lewis, the Mountaineers didn't allow the Skyhawks into the red zone.

The offense has done its job when it gets to the red zone as well, scoring 15 of 16 times and scoring a touchdown 12 out of 16 times.

'CUMMINGS NAMED THE RMAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (SEPT. 13)
Western Colorado's Josh Cummings big day on the ground led to him in a win over Western New Mexico led him to being named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. The redshirt sophomore rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries - averaging 8.9 yards per carry. This includes a 47-yard touchdown run by Cummings in the first quarter to get the scoring going for the Mountaineers in the 49-14 win over the Mustangs in Silver City.

'NEERS OFF TO FIRST FOR FIRST 4-0 START SINCE 1980
Western Colorado is off to its first 4-0 start since the 1980 team started the year 4-0 after defeating Fort Lewis on Saturday.  The Mountaineers will look to go 5-0 for the first time since 1979 when that team went 7-0 to start the season and won the RMAC title.

SEASON OPENERS
Western Colorado after its 2021-opening win is 33-63 all-time in season openers. Before this season, the last season-opening win for the Mountaineers came in 2014 against Wayland Baptist, 38-21, on the road. Of their 32 previous season opening wins, the Mountaineers have finished those seasons with a winning record 19 times (59.4 percent) and won the conference title 12 times (37.5 percent).

BAINS REACHES GAME NO. 100 FOR WESTERN AGAINST STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
Western coach Jas Bains enters his 11th season as head coach of the Mountaineers and last season's lone contest against SFA marked his 100th game as head coach. He's just the third coach in Western history to reach the 100-game mark - joining Bill Noxon (133 from 1971-84) and Carl Iverson (127 from 1988-2000).

MOUNTAINEER ALUM EKELER CONTINUES TO SHINE IN NFL
Western Colorado alum Austin Ekeler started his fifth NFL season with the Los Angeles Chargers and continues to make a mark.

Ekeler, an undrafted free agent signee out of Western in 2017 who signed a four-year, $24.5 million extension prior to the 2020 season, this season has rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown while catching nine passes for another 61 yards this season.

The 26-year-old who came to Western out of Eaton High School in Colorado owns the Mountaineers' single-game (344), single-season (1,676 - also owns the No. 2 and No. 4 spots) and career (5,857) rushing yard records as well as the single-game (5), single-season (19) and career (55) rushing touchdown records. He also owns the single-season (126) and career (378) scoring records at Western.